The present invention relates generally to a reclining chair and, more specifically to a reclining chair having a reinforced modular chair frame supported on an all-linkage reclining mechanism.
Reclining chairs are known within the art, and are becoming increasingly popular as it becomes more desirable to integrate comfort and reclining functions into various articles and styles of furniture including chairs, love seats and sofas. Many of the first developed designs were based upon all-linkage mechanisms. However, these all-linkage mechanisms typically did not provide a smooth reclining motion and were extremely large. As such the articles of furniture which utilized this mechanism were oversized. Moreover, these chairs required a large amount of free space to enable operation thereof. The all-linkage reclining chair mechanisms known within the art also did not provide adequate adjustment features for accommodating seat occupants of varying stature.
To overcome this problem, alternate reclining mechanisms were developed such as wall proximity reclining mechanisms utilizing track and roller assemblies which provided a smoother reclining motion. Presently, the reclining mechanisms utilizing track and rollers are fairly complex, require numerous components of varying types such as links, tracks and rollers, and are thus relatively expensive to manufacture. An exemplary reclining chair mechanism which was developed to provide a smoother reclining motion is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,220, entitled "Chair Mechanism," which is commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. This mechanism utilizes a short inclined track and roller to provide the recline-away motion of the wall proximity reclining chair. While this chair mechanism achieved the goal of providing smoother reclining operation, the design of this mechanism presents several disadvantages. First, this mechanism is limited to only two operative positions, namely the upright position, and the fully-reclined position. Additionally, this chair design does not allow the chair arms to move along with the seat assembly. Thus, this chair design requires a chair frame having more forwardly extending arm rests for providing adequate support when the chair mechanism is in the fully reclined position.
Another exemplary wall proximity reclining chair is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,276, entitled "Chair Mechanism," and which is commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. This chair mechanism design provides several improvements over those mechanisms known within the art. However, this mechanism also relies upon a track and roller system for providing smooth reclining motion. Additionally, this chair is also limited to only two reclining positions, and requires manual actuation via a hand operated lever. Accordingly, this design limits the types of furniture within which this mechanism can be integrated.
Yet another type of wall proximity reclining chair is that illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,526, entitled "Method for Assembling A Modular Wall Proximity Reclining Chair," which is commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. This chair was developed for reducing the complexity of the reclining mechanism, and its method of assembly. This chair mechanism overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art designs by providing a side frame and arm rest assembly that moves in conjunction with the seat assembly for providing adequate arm rest support. However, this mechanism design also relies upon a full length track and roller assembly for providing the desired smoothness in the reclining operation. The requirement for a bearing-based roller assembly also increases the cost of the mechanism. Additionally, the design of this mechanism limits this chair to a single reclining chair and further prevents this mechanism from being used in larger articles of furniture, such as sofas and modular sofa assemblies.
The chair frames associated with the above-described reclining chairs are constructed in a typical fashion in which the components are generally glued and screwed together. While such a design has heretofore provided an adequately stiff frame, efforts to improve the dimensional tolerancing as well as efforts to simplify assembly of such a frame using pre-upholstered components, has proven to be difficult. More specifically, it is difficult to achieve proper alignment of the screws which interconnect the seat frame to the side frames. Moreover, the available surface area upon which to interconnect these two components is frequently too small such that the screws are located too close together. This results in a toe-in/toe-out condition of the side frames relative to the seat rail. In certain toe-in conditions, the front post of the chair frame may bind with the leg rest mechanism such that smooth operation of the reclining feature is significantly impeded.
In view of the growing popularity of reclining chairs and the increasing desire to use reclining chairs in a more formal setting, there is a increasing need to develop a reclining chair mechanism which can be utilized with various types of furniture, including compact reclining chairs, at a considerably lower cost and that provides the comfort features demanded by consumers. As such, it is desirable to provide an all-linkage reclining chair which delivers smooth reclining motion, which includes an adjustment feature for accommodating various sized seat occupants, and which is readily assembled into various sizes and styles of chairs. It is also desirable to provide an all-linkage reclining chair mechanism which is designed to be primarily gravity driven with the assistance of a spring biasing mechanism, rather than manually driven through the use of an externally mounted operating handle. Such a design would simplify the operation of the chair. It is further desirable to provide a reclining chair mechanism in which the leg rest assembly can be fully extended by actuating a compact trigger release assembly, and can be retracted by the occupant merely moving the leg rest assembly back into the chair mechanism by leaning forward and placing a small amount of force onto the leg rest assembly. It is also desirable to provide a reclining mechanism in which the leg rest assembly can be replaced in the field, if damaged during use, without disassembling the entire chair and its associated reclining mechanism. It is further desirable to provide an all-linkage reclining mechanism which moves the associated chair frame forwardly as the seat assembly is reclined, thereby allowing for uninhibited operation when the chair is placed in close proximity to a wall. It is also desirable to provide a reinforced chair frame which yields enhanced dimensional control of the chair frame and which significantly increases the rigidity of the frame and in particular the interconnection of the side frames to the seat assembly.